1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of displaying a medical image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in accordance with the development of digitization and networking in hospitals, medical images obtained for image examination have been increasingly managed in a filmless method. The obtained medical images are stored in a digital data format and provided as needed to an image-display device through a network and a portable storage media.
The medical image is image information for a subject, and is obtained by an imaging diagnostic system. Examples of imaging diagnostic systems include: an ultrasonic diagnostic device that transmits/receives ultrasound to the subject in order to observe the inside of a subject; an X-ray CT (Computed Tomography) that exposes X-rays to the subject and then obtains the transmitted X-rays in order to observe the inside of the subject; an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) device that generates magnetic fields and electromagnetic waves and then receives electrical waves generated from, for example, the hydrogen nuclei of the inside of the subject, in order to observe the inside of the subject; and a nuclear medicine diagnosis device (a SPECT device and a PET device) that detects gamma rays radiated from radioisotopes that have been administrated to the inside of the subject, in order to observe the inside of the subject. The medical images obtained by theses imaging diagnostic system are used for radiogram interpretations, conferences, and informed consent.
For a radiogram interpretation, the medical image is transmitted through a network to the image-display device that has a function supporting report preparation, and a report is prepared while the medical image is displayed in the image-display device. The report is a document that describes findings based on the radiogram interpretation of the medical image. Additionally, for conferences and informed consent, the medical image is transmitted to the image-display device through a network, and decisions on treatment course are displayed along with explanations for the patient about their medical condition, symptoms, and future treatment options.
However, for third parties who view the medical images at a conference or at an informed consent, and in particular for patients who have poor medical knowledge, they may view their own medical images without understanding where the affected site is, how severe the medical conditions and symptoms for that affected site are, and what the difference is compared to an able-bodied person, and therefore, even in the case of receiving informed consent, anxiety regarding issues such as whether there are other treatment methods or not increases, and thus there is even the possibility that they may come to mistrust the doctor. Even when receiving an explanation about the treatment method, they cannot completely grasp what happens post-surgery, and thus the anxiety increases in this way as well, which results in the possibility that any mistrust they have towards their doctor is increased. As used hereinafter, an able-bodied person means a person who has no abnormalities within the range of the observed site that has been captured in the medical image.
By the way, in radiogram-interpretation operations, other medical images related to the medical image intended for the radiogram interpretation, particularly past images for the same patient, are often referred to. Past images showing other cases for the same site are also referred to at times. The findings are described by comparing the past images with the medical image intended for the radiogram interpretation. Therefore, a medical information system has been proposed for searching past medical images related to the medical image intended for the radiogram interpretation and then providing them to the image-display device (for an example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-63280). This medical information system operates to register medical images in a case database, and to search similar cases that have been registered in this case database and the medical images related to the past information of the patient so that they can be displayed in the image-display device. The case database is compiled as a database of information on the findings and the image conditions, and used for searching the medical images for cases that are necessary for reference by, for example, a keyword search.
Such medical information systems have conventionally been directed toward use in referring, at the time of the radiogram-interpretation operations, to established diagnoses for identical past cases, but not directed toward use in conferences and informed consent. Therefore, while it has been possible to search for similar past cases, it has been difficult to search for and display medical images that are not recognized as similar cases, such as medical images of able-bodied persons who have no disease and/or injury or medical images obtained after surgery. As used herein, an established diagnosis means that the presence of a disease and/or injury has been proven. In other words, even though medical images are accumulated on a daily basis, they have not been utilized in any satisfactory way for conferences and informed consent.